Cal grad Kevin Chou is driving force behind $18 million stadium deal

BERKELEY — Kevin Chou, the co-founder and CEO of the company that will pay Cal $18 million for naming rights to the field at Memorial Stadium, is a 2002 graduate of the school.

Chou, 33, heads a company called Kabam, which produces video games for mobile devices. The company, which was founded in 2006, employs 500 people in offices in three continents, including its global headquarters in San Francisco. Kabam earned $180 million in 2012, according to the San Francisco Business Times.

Named one of the "Smartest People in Tech" by Fortune magazine in 2011, Chou was an investment bank analyst at Deutsche Bank and a Silicon Valley global venture capitalist with Canaan Partners. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Cal with a BS in Business Administration.

The $18 million deal with Cal will put the Kabam name on the football field for 15 years.